By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
In hindsight, rather than trying to keep possession of the puck and break out of the defensive zone cleanly, Brett Murray should have just played it safe and chipped it out.
Instead, the ensuing turnover on a mix-up between Murray and Mason Jobst cost the Rochester Americans the lead with under eight minutes remaining on Friday night.
But Murray gained redemption by scoring the winning goal with just 2.9 seconds remaining as the Amerks defeated the Syracuse Crunch 4-3 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, improving to 3-1.
“He made a bit of a little mistake on the tying goal, not realizing that Jobst was really tired at the end of a shift and didn’t really want the puck back at that moment,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “We talked about it on the bench, kind of talked through the moment, and then I said, ‘Well, no big deal, just go get the game-winner and it will all be OK.’
“I appreciate that he did that for us.”
Murray’s second goal of the season came off the rush, as Linus Weissbach passed left to right across the slot for Biro, who quick fed the puck into the slot. Murray fired a low wrister that goalie Max Legace kicked out with the right leg.
But as Legace tried to shovel the puck with his stick to his glove and smother it about four feet above the crease, Murray went fishing for it. He either jammed the puck free or created enough disorder that puck slithered under the goalie and into the net.
“Maybe I hit his glove, maybe I hit the puck, I don’t know, I just know the puck went in,” Murray said.
Which was sweet atonement.
“It was quite the exciting turn of events,” the fourth-year winger said.
It was also the type of example Appert was looking for when he put an “A” on Murray’s sweater. With captain Michael Mersch expected to miss weeks of action because of an upper body injury suffered on Wednesday, a piece of the leadership group is missing.
“Hopefully I was able to step up and be half the leader he was,” Murray said.
The Amerks had trailed 2-1 after two periods but rallied as Linus Weissbach scored twice in a span of 2:53 – at 5:28 off a perfect Filip Cederqvist pass and again at 8:21 off a Brandon Biro set-up – before Gabriel Fortier tied it for the Crunch at 12:37.
The goal came on the first shot of the period for the Crunch, who were outshot by the Amerks 32-20 in the game and 14-2 in the third period.
While Amerks goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed three goals, he still was poised and solid.
“It was a not an easy game for a goaltender because he went long stretches without any shots and then short stretches with tons of shots and chaotic shots,” Appert said.
Back-to-back rallies
The Amerks also won 4-3 on Wednesday, defeating Belleville in overtime, and rallied in the third period to do so.
“I’m really pleased with the steps that our team is taking but also our young group is taking,” Appert said.
Rosen was dynamic
One of the young players that was especially impressive was rookie Isak Rosen, the 19-year-old from Sweden. He assisted on Weissbach’s first goal but did a whole lot more without the puck.
“Rosen, I don’t even know if he had a point tonight, (but) he was fabulous,” Appert said. “He defended hard, he won puck battles, he back-checked, things that you’re going to have to do to become a great NHL player.”
And remember, Rosen is a first-round pick who the Sabres chose 14th overall in 2021 largely because of his puck skills. Yet he stood out for his play without the puck.
“His defensive game has been really impressive, because he’s 19, and a lot of what we’re asking him to do is probably new to him,” Appert said. “Sometimes when you’re a really talented offensive player like he is, you can be resistant to some of those things, because you naturally think they make take away from your offensive game.
“You better be pretty special to score your way to the NHL; special, special. “Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka (members of the AHL’s All-Rookie team last year as Amerks) did not score their way to the NHL, they worked their way there. JJ Peterka would not be in the NHL and having success right now if he didn’t commit to backchecking and forechecking and winning puck battles.”
First pro goal
Rookie Tyson Kozak scored his first pro goal, giving the Amerks a 1-0 lead 13:48 into the first period after Aleksandr Kisakov swatted the puck away from Daniel Walcott at the bottom of the left circle.
However, before describing the offensive-zone happenings on the goal, Kozak pointed out that he lost the defensive-zone draw when the shift began, so he was glad the Amerks gained control of the puck and were able to attack.
The assist was the first point for Kisakov, the Sabres second-round pick from 2021 who turns 20 on Nov. 1.
“I thought Kisakov could have had four points tonight so you can see it’s coming,” Appert said.
Fun win for sure. How many times do you win a game with just a second or two left. By then, usually both teams are just trying to get it to OT. From my perch, I still can’t believe that on Kozak’s (i think it was him) mostly breakaway attempt where he was hauled down from behind, right in front of the ref…was not called. What did one of us miss?
In 4 games, Amerks have lost one when leading after two (rare) and won twice when trailing after 2 (even rarer!) The ‘d’ looks pretty decent. Last year the ‘d’ was not decent. the PP also looks pretty good. The PK needs work. I’d like to see the guys sweep the Crunch this weekend. We ended last season by losing so many games to them.
I would imagine that since they will be off for a week, UPL will get another start today. You know the Sabres want him to play a lot this year to see if he can get thru a season without a lot of games lost to injury.
Of note: Jack Quinn has been a healthy scratch the last 2 games already. Sure looks like JJ has risen above him on the depth chart. What did Sabres see in the 1st two games that has put Jack on the bench already? Have to think he will play at least one of the last 2 road games though.